Interview with Abigail Gibbs, Author of Autumn Rose

[Manga Maniac Cafe] Good morning! Describe yourself in five words or less.

[Abigail Gibbs] Stressed student-author needing coffee.

[Manga Maniac Cafe] Can you tell us a little about AUTUMN ROSE?

[Abigail Gibbs] Autumn Rose has the chance to save the world she loves. But how much will she have to sacrifice?

Autumn Rose lives in a sleepy seaside town, but buried deep under the surface of her quiet life are dark secrets. Her grandmother is dead, murdered eighteen months ago, and the vibrant London social scene in which she was brought up is a world away. Even worse, at her new school she is shunned and condemned––all because of the swirling marks on her skin that prevent her from blending in with the crowd.

Then the appearance at her school of a handsome young man—who has the same curious markings as Autumn—sends her world into turmoil. Suddenly the marks are deemed cool, and Autumn is thrust into the limelight. But her sudden popularity brings danger as her secrets threaten to come to light. And then there are her recurring dreams about a girl who is about to be seduced by a very dark prince . . . and Autumn must figure out how to save her before it is too late.

[Manga Maniac Cafe] How did you come up with the concept and the characters for the story?

[Abigail Gibbs] Twilight sparked my initial thoughts for The Dark Heroine series. I wanted to write a vampire book that contained more blood and sex, that felt a bit more ‘adult’ but could still appeal to a teenage audience (new adult still wasn’t a very well-known genre, even four or so years ago). From that, I created TDH: Dinner With A Vampire. I had already started novels in the past that contained paranormal romance elements, and one of those was about a prophecy. That juvenilia became the second book in the series, Autumn Rose, and the series about the wider world of the Heroines (as opposed to a stand-alone vampire story) was born. I really don’t know where Autumn came from! Originally, she may have been a projection of an even earlier character I created, Canse, who was in turn a projection of my nine year-old self’s imagination, but as I’ve grown and matured she’s become quite alien and doesn’t have a direct source and inspiration. She just sort of exists, and always has.

[Manga Maniac Cafe] What did you enjoy most about writing this book?

[Abigail Gibbs] Writing about Autumn. Because she has been so omnipresent a (fictional) figure in my life, actually weaving together her story as a coherent narrative and getting a hold of who she really is, and then sharing it with my readers has been a great pleasure. She is so unpredictable. The finished Autumn Rose is nothing like the synopsis I originally gave my editor – Autumn just did her own thing! Not always knowing where you are going next (or being surprised when there is a change of plan) is a lot of fun as a writer.

[Manga Maniac Cafe] What gave you the most trouble with this story?

[Abigail Gibbs] Autumn Rose is a sequel, but it isn’t about the characters from Book 1. Making sure I could tell a new story about new characters, whilst furthering the overarching plot and the plot of Book 1’s characters, whilst giving everybody in the vast world of the Heroines air time was really, really difficult. Most fans seem to like it, yet I’m still not sure I got the balance right. But there’s always another book to write, and so I have more time to perfect that part of my writing.

[Manga Maniac Cafe] If you had a theme song, what would it be?

[Abigail Gibbs] Dark Clouds by Brand X Music. It’s a piece of trailer music and very dramatic. I’m reading for a degree as well as writing books, so when I’m up at midnight and have an essay deadline in the morning, it makes me feel epic and then my essay becomes epic (or just, well, finished).

[Manga Maniac Cafe] Name one thing you won’t leave home without.

[Abigail Gibbs] Nivea hand moisturizer.

[Manga Maniac Cafe] Name three things on your desk right now.

[Abigail Gibbs] A single red, almost black, rose from my boyfriend; a coffee machine; and a ‘book chair’, which is a stand to hold books open at a page as you are reading.

International sensation Abigail Gibbs draws us even further into the dangerous and romantic world of the Dark Heroines with AUTUMN ROSE, book two of her breathtakingly magical paranormal series.

Somewhere in a sleepy seaside town in England, Autumn Rose is living a seemingly quite life. But, buried deep under the surface are dark secrets. Autumn’s been dealing with a lot — her grandmother is dead and the whirling social scene of London in which she was brought up is a world away. To make matters worse, she’s shunned and condemned at her new school, all because of the swirling marks on her skin that prevent her from blending in.

At school, the appearance of a handsome young man sends her world in turmoil. He shares the same markings as Autumn, and knows many of the secrets she’s tried to keep hidden. His arrival at school thrusts her into the limelight, with the unexpected popularity bringing danger as her secrets threaten to come to light. And, Autumn keeps dreaming of a human girl who is about to be seduced by a very dark Prince. Time is her enemy, and she must figure out how to save the human before it is too late.

AUTUMN ROSE continues Abigail Gibbs phenomenal Dark Heroine series with an alluring story of romance, hidden secrets, and captivating magic.

Abigail Gibbs was born and raised in deepest, darkest Devon, England. She is studying for a B.A. in English at the University of Oxford and considers herself a professional student, as the real world has yet to catch up with her. Her greatest fear is blood and she is a great advocate of vegetarianism, which logically led to the writing of her first novel, The Dark Heroine: Dinner with a Vampire. She splits her time between her studies, stories, and family, and uses coffee to survive all three.